The wife pursed her lips in disapproval, and Talbot was tempted to provoke that reaction from her again and again.
“Sound splendid!” he said cheerfully, then turned to the newcomers, who curtsied and bowed in deference to his higherrank. “Lord Oakley, Lady Isabella, I hear congratulations are in order.”
The duchess’s younger sister, who was good-natured and smart, blushed, and Oakley looked like someone was pulling him up to stand taller.
“Yes, Duke Talbot, we are engaged to be married,” the young man said proudly.
“Congratulations, I wish you a long and happy marriage,” Talbot said, despite believing that there was no such thing as a happy marriage.
The oblivious couple smiled and thanked him, and they all talked in circles some more, until they were joined by Earl Ian Sinclair (whom Talbot secretly thought of asthat milksop) and Hawkins’s younger sister Charlotte.
He endured some more pleasantries and small talk until, mercifully, the dinner bell rang. Then, however, he had to sit to the hostess’ right since he was the highest-ranked among the guests. It was almost enough to curse being a duke,almost.
Colin couldn’t wait for dinner to be over so the men could retire to the library to smoke, relax, and joke without the restraints imposed on them by the ladies’ presence.
Duchess Sophie Hawkins turned out to be pleasant and polite, engaging and a good conversationalist. Talbot had been introduced to her some time last year, but he hadn’t gotten to know her beyond a few perfunctory dances.
He had to keep reminding himself throughout dinner that this woman was the reason his friend wanted nothing to do with him and that she was most likely pretending to be nice and kind when people were around.
Isn’t that what my mother has always done?
He turned to Charlotte, eager to think of anything else. She sat next to Sinclair and elegantly ate her small bites. Talbot felt eyes on him as he observed her and looked in the direction of the gaze to discover Nicholas frowning at him. He raised an eyebrow in question, and his friend looked away.
“When is the wedding, Oakley?” Talbot asked and took a deep drag of his cigar.
The familiar burn of the smoke in his airways grounded him in the way all familiar things did. He relaxed into his seat and stretched his legs in front of him.
“In less than a month,” Frederick replied.
“Looks like someone’s in a rush to consummate,” Talbot said, and most of the men felt free to laugh, since Viscount Sedgewick had already retired for the night.
“Shut up, Talbot,” Oakley said good-naturedly.
“Jokes aside, congratulations. Lady Isabella is the perfect wife for you.”
“When did you become the great defender of the institution of marriage?” Nicholas asked harshly.
Hawkins had been withdrawn and subdued the whole night, and as the evening progressed, he seemed to become more and more anxious to leave their presence, but, as a polite host, was unable to until all of them retired to bed. Upon noticing this, Talbot had decided to stay in the library for as long as possible – partly out of spite, partly to make sure they were alone, and partly to gather courage for the dreaded conversation that needed to be had.
“If the match is appropriate and a good chess move, why not get married? The right wife can strengthen a man’s social position,and some of them are very pleasing to look at,” Talbot shrugged, affecting a carelessness he didn’t feel.
“Is that all there is to you, chess moves?” Nicholas asked loudly and impatiently.
Sinclair and Oakley looked between the two men and rose at once.
“We’ll, uh, see you both in the morning,” the milksop said.
“What else would there be?” Talbot replied to Hawkins without acknowledging the two departing men.
“Love, building a family, spending your life with someone you actually like!”
“I cannot wait for little Charlotte to come out, then you can let her marry an impoverished gambler becauseshe loves him,” Talbot spat the part about love mockingly.
Hawkinsdidlook worried at the idea, and it made Talbot feel great.
“Why are you really here, Talbot?” Nicholas asked wearily. “And spare me that nonsense about felicitations.”
Talbot had been looking for an excuse to lay it all bare – his fear of change, the sense of being abandoned, his desire to mend their friendship… and he would have, had it not been for the tone Nicholas had just spoken to him in.
